John Cusack is back on the big screen this week playing poet Edgar Allan Poe in period thriller The Raven.

It's dark and spooky subject matter for an actor whose 20-year career as a leading man has seen him skilfully tread the line between comedy and drama, working with directors such as Cameron Crowe, Stephen Frears and Terrence Malick.

Digital Spy takes a look at five of John Cusack's best movie roles below:

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Say Anythingâ€¦ (1989)
Cameron Crowe found Cusack to be the perfect leading man for his directorial debut Say Anything. The film was marked as the last time Cusack played a high-schooler, but his endearing performance as Lloyd Dobler - including the famous 'In Your Eyes' boombox - still lingers in the memory.

Con Air (1997)
Cusack and Jerry Bruckheimer make an unlikely pairing, but this full-throttle action movie gave the actor a chance to show that he could slip between genres with ease. Cusack plays US Marshall Vince Larkin, who teams up with Nicolas Cage's Cameron Poe when a prisoner transport plane gets hijacked.

Grosse Point Blank (1997)
Playing down-on-his-luck hitman Martin Blank, Cusack returns home to a 10-year high school reunion and rekindles a romance with Minnie Driver's Debi. Mixing comedy, romance and the odd gun battle, Grosse Point Blank showed JC at his absolute best. A tip of the hat should go to the excellent supporting cast, which includes Alan Arkin, Dan Aykroyd, John's sister Joan Cusack, Hank Azaria and Jeremy Piven.

Being John Malkovich (1999)
From the eccentric minds of Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jonze, this comedy saw a straggly-haired Cusack play a puppeteer who discovers a portal into the mind of actor John Malkovich. Cusack, who had asked his agent to find him the "craziest, most unproduceable script", delivers a fine turn as the frustrated Kaufman alias married to a woman who cares more for her menagerie of pets.

High Fidelity (2000)
Cusack's second collaboration with Stephen Frears saw them transplant Nick Hornby's much-loved Brit novel to the US. A rare rom-com that's aimed at men, it follows a group of record store workers who use pop music to make sense of their failed relationships. Cusack plays Rob, the heart of the film who recounts his doomed romances with Iben Hjejle, Lisa Bonnet and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

What are your favourite John Cusack movies? Should The Thin Red Line, The Grifters or The Sure Thing have made this list? Leave your comments below...